Picture taken mid
September 2010 of the sunflowers we planted
from seed on Jamie's grave

Grow a
sunflower for Jamie

Our current project

Following the success of the 'bonding
weekend' with our young athletes in
Devon and our horror, as we watched the
Inner City riots unfold in August 2011,
we decided there and then to give as
many children as possible, the chance of
a life changing experience in the West
Country.

We have now teamed up with an adventure
centre, Grenville House in Brixham
www.grenvillehouse.com and we
decided to sponsor 40 deserving nine to
eleven year olds, from the Borough of
Hackney, for a five day stay over the
October half term.

During their time at Grenville House,
the children experienced a variety of
indoor and outdoor activities along with
the consequent personal and social
development that this brought. They were
divided into teams of six, accompanied
by an adult team leader and took part in
eight, half day sessions of raft
building, caving, high ropes course,
canoe trips, abseiling, yachting and
indoor climbing. All the activities were
supervised by highly trained Grenville
House instructors.

The children were chosen from six
different schools in Hackney. This in
itself provided additional challenges
for both the children and staff. The
Centre's philosophy is based on
teamwork, whether assisting each other
by carrying suitcases up to bedrooms,
setting the dining room table for
breakfast, or canoeing around Brixham
Harbour.

It is to be hoped that the overall
experience will assist in making the
transition from primary to secondary
school easier and help to motivate the
children to achieve their full
potential, in their future lives.

The selection of the individual children
was orchestrated by Nana Badu, an
inspirational sports coach, who has been
working with schools in Hackney for a
number of years and who headed up our
team of coaches in Ghana. He is
passionate about keeping young,
vulnerable children away from the 'Gang
Culture', that will lead to a life of
crime. He accompanied those selected to
Devon and fully participated in the
experience, bringing much needed
discipline and understanding.

The costs to send each child to
Grenville House is approximately £225
including transport, accommodation,
catering and all activities. We have
already booked 3 further weeks and hope
to raise sufficient funds to allow a
further 120 children to visit Grenville
House next year.

2nd Fundraising Dinner

Our second Fund Raising Dinner was held
on March 3rd at Twickenham and once
again was a great success. We raised
over £13,000 on the evening. This means
we have enough money to send more than
120 children to Grenville House this
year. We want to thank all of you who
have helped us with generous donations.
Without you we would not have been able
to reach this magnificent sum.

The highlight of the Dinner was an
inspirational speech by Charlie Kyle,
Deputy Head of Holy Trinity, one of the
school, which sent children to Devon
over the October half term, last year.
Here are a few quotes from her speech:

"Hackney is home to some of the
Country's most underprivileged
children."

"A third of all households with children
are single parents families."

"The highest incidence of crime in
Hackney is drug related. It is almost
double that of all other types of
crime."

"These kids are no different to yours,
they have the same aspirations, hopes
and dreams."

"The majority have never seen the sea
and would quite literally run a mile if
they came face to face with a cow."

"The opportunities that the Jamie
Procter's Foundation are proposing are
unlike anything that we are able to
offer. To leave Hackney, leave London,
leave their parents, possibly for the
first time, and face a new set of
challenges. To experience activities
that they have never before tried, to
sail a boat, rock climb, canoe or even
just to walk through countryside. To
work alongside new people and to develop
their social skills and to feel a sense
of achievement and pride in conquering
new activities is incredible. The impact
of experiences like these, on children
like ours, cannot be overestimated."